Author Topic: newbie intro - wiredgeorge/Texas Hill Country (Read 2382 times)

wiredgeorge · « **on:** March 26, 2007, 08:47:09 AM »

Howdy... just bought a 2001 Bandit 1200S. Bought the bike Saturday and rode it home about 350 miles and got to know the bike a tad. I own a motorcycle carburetor sales / rebuild business that specializes in vintage metric carbs; 70s/early 80s Kaw/Suz mostly. I currently tour on a Voyager XII own two KZ1000E ST shaft and two KZ900s that I use to test carbs on. I owned a GS1100 from 83 to 95 and missed the big standard so I bought a Bandit. It is red, has a Two Brothers slip on and Corbin gunfighter/lady seat but pretty much stock otherwise.

Initial impression of the bike is that the stock windshield makes riding noisy. Might think about some taller bars or risers... perhaps 1.5". The headlight lowbeam was a joke. When on low, nothing was visible... nothing. Perhaps the bulb is burned as there was only a small halo of light extending out about 20 feet in front of my fender. Put it on highbeam and highbeam was about what I would expect for lowbeam... beam out about 50-60 yards but just a tad high for lowbeam. The mirrors are also a bit buzzy at highway speeds. Other than the headlight and wind noise, the bike was very rideable. Power is adequate and the overall riding position is pretty good. The Corbin seat reminded me of my GS1100 gunfighter/lady... pretty darn comfy with no burn after getting used the firmness. The instrument lights are not as bright as I would like and I will eventually look for some brighter bulbs (getting old).

Don't have either a shop manual or owners manual yet... wasn't sure what octane gas to use so I used hi-test and have since found that compression is only 9.5:1 so will likely switch to regular. Need to pick up an oil filter and change the oil. Will likely use Castrol GTX 10W40. Will also be poking around the headlight so night riding isn't as scarey. After hanging around a bit and listening to opinions, might also swap out the windscreen for one that doesn't create as much noise. Anyway, cheers! BTW: What happened to the regular BanditAlleyBBS? This one was really hard to stumble on.

Red01 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 26, 2007, 11:20:06 AM »

and check your PMs, if you haven't already.

The regular site is having server problems. One of our members, Stormi, was kind enough to donate space on her server to host the backup site until things can get fixed.

H2RICK · « **Reply #2 on:** March 26, 2007, 02:11:17 PM »

Welcome to the board and congrats on your Gen 2 B12S. Ahhhh....I see you ARE the genuine Wired George. I was thinking someone had maybe hijacked your name just to use on this board. A buddy of mine has a KZ900 and speaks highly of your work, so if I ever get a REALLY wonky set of Kawi carbs they'll be off to you lickety-split.
Yep, 2 buddies of mine have Gen 2 Bandits and both complain bitterly about the low-rent headlights. Look cool but no illumination. Does someone out there have a cure for this nagging problem ?? Anyone ??

Red01 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 26, 2007, 02:35:52 PM »

Quote from: "H2RICK"

Does someone out there have a cure for this nagging problem ?? Anyone ??

OF COURSE!

In the Bandit 600 through 1250 section under the "Modifications" subsection there's a sticky on this called "2G "S" headlamp upgrade" (Click here for the backup server version), and also in the "FAQ" subsection of the same section under "Bugeye Headlight Issues" (Click here for the backup server version).

And of course, I've incoroporated one of the fixes on mine.

wiredgeorge · « **Reply #4 on:** March 26, 2007, 04:11:27 PM »

Howdy Rick... Red01 has already put me on the right path to fixing the lighting problem. When riding the bike home, on a very back, back, back road called Bump Gate Rd., the highbeam didn't keep up with the curves. You can only go about 25 mph on this road and in the dark, it is really scary because it is full of gravel and deer. There is no straight on the road over 50-60 yards... Perhaps it was the beam of the highbeam but it seemed to be illuminating the bushes more than the road itself as I crept around curves. I am going to have the fairing apart at the first opportunity... BTW: I think the CV36s off a Bandit will fit a KZ900... I think the carb spacing will be about the same. I haven't looked closely at the intake runners yet. On a Kaw, they are straight but on some Suzies the two inside cylinders are angled inwards a tad... like the GS750 and GS850. The GS1100 carbs work fine and I am guessing that the cylinder spacing for the Bandit 1200 is the same but could be wrong. I think the carbs on this bike need sync'd as it vibrates at highway speeds to where I can't see anything in the mirrors. I will pop out the mix screw plugs and probably swap out the pilot jets as well. No flat spots so I doubt any more tuning is needed. I also need to find an oil filter and get the oil changed. Never trust oil changes on a used bike. Anyway, I wanted something that didn't need quite as much maintenance as the fleet of old KZs I have.

Red01 · « **Reply #5 on:** March 26, 2007, 05:07:53 PM »

An oil filter should be an easy find. The Bandit uses the same filter as a ton of other Suzi's with spin-on filters... GSX-R's, Katanas, Intruders, SV's, TL's, DL's.

H2RICK · « **Reply #6 on:** March 26, 2007, 08:35:25 PM »

Quote

Never trust oil changes on a used bike.

Yep, you're right about that, George...and you may want to toss the chain too. Those are the two things that NO ONE ever takes care of when they're selling a used bike.....and I've always made it a practice to discount the asking price by exactly what it'll cost me to sort out the oil, filter and chain. It's just a part of buying a used bike.....
But I'm sure you already knew that......right??!!

Thanks for the tip on the G2 headlight stuff, Paul. I'll pass that along to my friends....although one of them hangs out here occasionally so he may have already seen it.